Page 10 of My Five Daddies

He watches me for a second, looking thoughtful. “You don’t seem to mind that I kissed her,” hesays.

I shrug. “Not really. Not like we haven’t all fucked the same girlbefore.”

He cocks his head. “I guess that’s true. And really, I don’t mind if youtry.”

“Good,” I say, grinning. “I figure you already broke the rules. Why not me,too?”

His serious expression breaks out into a grin. “Sounds good to me. Let’s get banned from that fuckingplace.”

I grin right back. “Sounds like you think she’s not going to be intoit.”

“What, five attractive, rich men coming on to her?” he asks,laughing.

“What a lucky fucking girl,” I say, and we both grin likeidiots.

3

Tori

I’m not nearlyas nervous the next night as I say the password and climb the strange staircase up into anotherworld.

All afternoon it was like I lived a dream. I was a little hungover at work, and between that and the stack of cash in my drawer, there was nothing to prove that what happened was real. It felt like a dream: five rich, handsome men giving me attention, flirting with me, kissing me, and eventually giving me an absurd amount ofmoney.

It was real though. Promise is still standing, right where I left it, not disappearing into the night. Stacey is behind the desk again, wearing thick black-rimmed glasses, her hair up in a conservative bun. But beneath her librarian outfit is this strange, sexual intensity that hums and radiates from her. Briefly, I wonder if she’s the madam, but this is the twenty-first century. There aren’t “madams” anymore, just businesspeople.

“Your boys are already here,” she says, frowning atme.

I hesitate. “They’reback?”

She nods, a small smile replacing her frown. “They haven’t come twice in a row in a fewyears.”

“Really?” I don’t even know what to say. I expected to deal with a whole different group of men, potentially more difficult, but this is an incredibly pleasantsurprise.

Stacey stands up. “Better hurry. Don’t want to keep themwaiting.”

I follow her through the twisting maze of hallways again, quickly getting lost. I can’t believe this place takes up an entire block, although that makes sense. It’s absurdly huge andcomplicated.

We reach the same room as last time and Stacey turns to me. “Listen, let me give you someadvice.”

“Okay,” I say, biting my lip. I’m afraid she’s going to chew me out for being late, although I showed up at the exact time Cara told meto.

“Don’t get attached to these guys.” I start to say something, but she stops me. “Look, they’re nice, and I bet you think you know better. But these men… they’re charming, rich, handsome. It’s hard not to fall in love if they’re giving you attention.” She steps closer to me, pitching her voice lower, making me lean in to hear her. “But listen to me, they’re dangerous. Very dangerous. Don’t fall inlove.”

I start to tell her that I won’t, that I’m a grownup and know better, that this is just a job to me and nothing more, but the words don’t come. Instead, she turns away, knocks on the door, and leaves a momentlater.

I stand outside of the door, watching her go. I remember kissing Hunter last night, his taste still fresh in my mouth, and Will’s card is still on mydresser.

Maybe she’s right. Maybe I should run away from these guys, save myself some misery. I have five thousand dollars, after all, which is more than I expected from my first night. I could walk away now and behappy.

But something takes my hand, puts it on the doorknob, and turns it. Maybe it’s the desire to see the guys again, or maybe just plain stupidity. It’s not the money, although that’s nice. Mostly, I think it’s the way they made me feel: part of the group,happy.

Five sets of eyes lock onto me as I step through the door and shut it gently behind me. “Evening,gentlemen.”

The room is slightly changed from the night before. Instead of a large set of couches taking up the middle of the space, there’s a single couch on the back wall, the bar toward the windows, and a table takes up the main floor. The large television is still there, but tonight it’s playing hockey with the volume downlow.

All five guys are sitting at the table. They have poker chips and cards out in front of them, and they’re clearly in the middle of ahand.

Will stands up. “Thought you wouldn’t show,” he says. “Thought we scared youoff.”